Netflixhas struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, the legacyHollywoodgiant behind Harry Potter and Friends, to buy its studio and streamingbusinessfor $72 billion.

The acquisition would bring two of the industrys biggest players in film and TV under one roof and alter theentertainmentindustry landscape. Beyond its namesaketelevisionand motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios. And Netflix is ubiquitous with on-demand content and has built its own production arm to release popular titles, includingStranger Thingsand Squid Game.

For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the worlds attention, and shaped ourculture," David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement Friday. "By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the worlds most resonant stories for generations to come.

The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months after Warner completes its previously-announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks like CNN and Discovery.

Read moreWarner Brothers Discovery will split company to build streaming

The bid will draw tremendous antitrust scrutiny. Beyond TV and movie production, the merger would bring two of the streaming worlds biggest names Netflix and HBO Max under the same ownership.

If the transaction goes through, Netflix will cement itself as the Goliath of streaming, said Mike Proulx, a VP research director at Forrester. "This deal changes the calculus of the streaming wars, representing a seismic shift in the entertainment industry.

What the future of both Netflix and HBO Max will look like has yet to be seen. But if the two platforms remain separate subscriptions, users may encounter more bundle promotions and boost content libraries more broadly. Netflix on Friday said that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will give its members even more high-quality titles from which to choose and optimize its plans for consumers.

Still, some warn that consolidation across the industry will mean less variety of content and fewer choices for consumers down the road.

Gaining Warners legacy studios would mark a notable shift for Netflix, particularly its presence in theatres. Under the proposed acquisition, Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warners studio films honouring Warners contractual agreements for movie releases.

Netflix has kept most of its original content within its core online platform. But theres been exceptions, including qualifying runs for its awards contenders, including this years Frankenstein, limited theatre screenings of aKPop Demon Hunterssing-a-long and its coming Stranger Things series finale. Though the streaming company has a policy of not reporting ticket sales, KPop Demon Hunters unofficially topped thebox officein late August, taking in nearly $20 million.

Our mission has always been to entertain the world, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix said in a statement adding that merging with Warner will give audiences more of what they love.

Critics say a Netflix-Warner combo would be bad news for people who love to go to movie theatres and for those who work in them.CinemaUnited a trade association that represents more than 30,000 movie screens in the US and another 26,000 screens internationally was quick to oppose the proposed deal, which it said poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.

Netflixs stated business model does not support theatrical exhibition. In fact, it is the opposite, Michael OLeary, CEO of Cinema United, said Friday urging regulators to look closely at the impacts. "Theatres will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost.

Netflix had previously avoided venturing into other parts of the legacy entertainment landscape. As recently as October when Warner signalled that it was open to a potential sale of its business Netflix's Sarandos reiterated on an earnings call that the company had been very clear in the past that we have no interest in owning legacy media networks and that there was no change there.

We believe that we can be and we will be choosy, Sarandos said at the time, without fully ruling out a potential bid for Warner.

Watch moreWarner Bros. Discovery open for sale after failed Paramount takeover bids

Fridays announcement arrives after a month-long bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. Rumours of interest from Netflix, as well as NBC owner Comcast, started bubbling up in the fall. But Skydance-owned Paramount, which completed its own $8 billion merger in August, had also reportedly made several all-cash offers backed heavily by CEO David Ellisons family.

Paramount seemed like the front-runner for some time and unlike Netflix or Comcast, was reportedly vying to buy Warners entire company, including its cable business housing networks like CNN and Discovery.

Warner announced its intention to split its streaming and studio operations from its cable business in June outlining plans for HBO, HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, to become part of a new streaming and studios company.

Meanwhile, networks like CNN, Discovery and TNT Sports and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report would make up a separate cable counterpart called Discovery Global. Discovery Global is set to become a new publicly-traded company, in a process now expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.

Shares of Warner Bros. rose nearly 2 percent after U.S. markets opened Friday, while shares of Netflix fell nearly 2 percent. Paramount fell nearly 6 percent.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Originally published on France24